« Frédéric Bednarz and Natsuki Hiratsuka bring exceptionally fine, idiomatic and subtle performances of works for violin and piano by Guillaume Lekeu, César Franck and Lili Boulanger on a release from metis islands music ».

Frédéric Bednarz brings a beautifully refined tone to the opening of the Très modéré – Vif et passionné of Lekeu’s Sonata with some wonderfully limpid phrases from Natsuki Hiratsuka before developing through more incisive moments where this violinist finds a passionate edge. They hold a fine balance between the gentler flow and more passionate, dramatic moments, often with an underswell of tension. The music builds in drama and power with some very fine textures from Bednarz, before trying to find the gentler nature of the opening but rising again in passion with some wonderful textures as the music reaches the quieter, more thoughtful coda.

« Bednarz and Hiratsuka capture the post-Wagnerian sound world of Lekeu with a Gallic sensitivity, which also proves ideal in the Nocturne (…) »
Julian Haylock, BBC Music Magazine / www.classical-music.com

There’s another performance of the Franck Violin Sonata on a new CD featuring works by Lekeu, Franck and Boulanger from the Montreal violinist Frédéric Bednarz and pianist Natsuki Hiratsuka (Metis Islands Music MIM-0006).

Guillaume Lekeu and Lili Boulanger (Nadia’s younger sister) both died at the tragically young age of 24. Lekeu’s Sonata in G Major is a fine three-movement work, with its long violin lines and agitated piano in the outer movements somewhat reminiscent of the Franck, which was written just six years earlier. Bednarz’s beautiful sweetness of tone is evident right from the start.

Boulanger was always in fragile health, and her works often seem to display her awareness of her condition. Nocturne is a simply lovely and delightful piece, again perfectly suited to Bednarz’s sweet tone. The Franck Sonata is the centrepiece of the CD, and again it’s the tonal quality……

« Bednarz and Hiratsuka are well on their way to establishing themselves as a formidable violin and piano duo. Highly recommended ».

Jerry Dubins, Fanfare

Here is an interesting program which avoids the routine by pairing the over-familiar Franck Violin Sonata with the very much less often heard sonata by Guillaume Lekeu and the almost never heard Nocturne by Lili Boulanger. At least once told—perhaps twice—is the story of my first encounter with Lekeu’s sonata on a mid-1950s RCA LP, performed by Yehudi Menuhin and Marcel Gazelle. The piece struck me as a “wanderer’s fantasy” if ever there was one, as I kept an impatient eye on the turntable arm slowly making its way across the grooves and wondering, not when, but if it would ever end. Lekeu may have lived to be only 24 (1870–1894) and to have composed fewer than 30 works during his short lifespan, but not a few of them,……